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Most adventures don’t lead to writing a cookbook – particularly one about ice cream – but that is where University of Delaware alumna Lindsay Clendaniel was headed all along when she started a Scoop Adventures blog in 2009 to chronicle her experiences with unique and interesting flavors and recipes.

The blog ultimately led to a publisher approaching her to write a cookbook on the subject and Clendaniel, a 2003 UD graduate, jumped at the opportunity.

The cookbook, titled Scoop Adventures: The Best Ice Cream of the 50 States, is due out on March 25 and features ice cream recipes from all 50 states as well as 30 of Clendaniel’s own personal recipes. Chapters are divided up regionally, from the “Sugary Southeast” to “The Mountains of Milk and Cream.”

Clendaniel took six months to write the book, in which she found and whipped up 12 to 16 recipes per week. “The book is full of recipes that I would consider pretty unique and creative,” said Clendaniel. “There is nothing wrong with the run of the mill chocolate, vanilla and strawberry when it’s done right, but I like coming up with pretty creative flavors.”

Clendaniel said she sought out contributors, looking for ice cream vendors that used good ingredients and had a good philosophy about ice cream, as well as that creative knack for flavor.

When it came time to pick an ice cream contributor for Delaware, Clendaniel looked no further than her alma mater. “The UDairy Creamery didn’t start until after I graduated but, of course, since I’m so in to ice cream, I was super excited to hear that they were actually starting a creamery on campus. As soon as I got this book opportunity one of the first things I did was contact the University of Delaware.”

For the book, Clendaniel said the UDairy Creamery contributed its recipe for the flavor known as “Junk in the Tree Trunk,” which consists of maple, a caramel swirl, pecan and praline pieces. She noted that she is a big fan of the UDairy Creamery flavors “Holy Fluffernutter!” and “Katie’s Bagged Lunch,” as well.

Not surprisingly, Clendaniel’s adventures opened her eyes to some interesting flavors of ice cream, such as basil. “I heard of restaurants making basil ice cream and it turns out that the anise kind of quality actually does well with the ice cream — and when you pair it with things like lemon and strawberry, it’s really good.”

Clendaniel, who works as a psychologist, said that ice cream and her blog are a special interest of hers and that it is “nice to have an interest that is truly different from my work. Outside of work, I love food, and I love sweet things, so ice cream was just a good thing to find.”

Having dealt with ice cream for so long and tasted so many flavors over the years, it is also no surprise that Clendaniel has trouble picking a favorite.

“I love fresh fruit flavors. I think that making sorbets is one of the best things to do with fresh fruit other than eat it,” she said, adding, “This is always the hardest question. I love chocolate flavors, too — some of the chocolate flavors in the book that I like are chocolate coconut macadamia nut. Those are just kind of playing with chocolate, which is one of my favorite things to do, too.”